Four Dimensional Vertigo
Four Dimensional Vertigo, or Stage 16 in Need for Madness 2, is often considered to be the hardest stage in the second Need For Madness, in which a Four-Dimensional enviroment is projected into a Three-Dimensional world. Everything is out of place, so the player is advised to follow the guidance arrow, or even following the AI racing. AI Variation In this stage, the cars have their AI modified to increase difficulty of the stage. Also the cars have mostly the same starting positions every race, not to mention the same cars always. These cars driven by these AI's are unofficially called the All Stars (note the caption). If the player has completed this stage sometimes very basic cars will appear, a.k.a Nimi, Tornado Shark Max Revenge along with 1 or even none of the Big 3 besides DR. Monstaa. 'Positions' Unless the player is driving one of the following cars, the position and order remain the same. 1. DR Monstaa will always be up front. The player should use this as an advantage as they can "slide" under it for great speeds. 2. EL KING and Sword of Justice tend to be side-by side below DR Monstaa. 3. High Rider is below the duo and tends to zig-zag at the start. 4. M A S H E E N and Mighty Eight are just in front of the player. Note that sometimes there are variations between rows 2 and 4, like Mighty Eight being up front and EL KING at the back. 'Cars and their roles' Every car in this stage has a purpose, and are divided into two catagories. Wasters - They will waste no one but the player. DR Monstaa will initially race, but it may hunt the player down and constantly give chase after passing someway during the first lap. It may resume to racing if the player has escaped far enough though. EL KING is slightly better than DR Monstaa in a way that it will constantly intercept the player after passing the 5th checkpoint. EL KING will try not to race in most areas where the player will usually be. M A S H E E N is considered to be the most strategic in this stage. It will camp at several checkpoints in attempt to waste the player and will also attempt to intercept the player in some areas. M A S H E E N will camp at the very last checkpoint as a last ditch effort to waste the player. M A S H E E N does not race in this stage. Its camping spots are fixed so the player is advised to remember them. Racers - They will "try" to get to the finish no matter what High Rider is a fast racer and is easy to elude if the player happens to waste. Its Endurance is quite low though so it may be wasted through its stunts. Surprisingly, High Rider is not a bully car at this point in the game. In fact, it really does not pay attention to the player at all. It may abandon his path to reach to the fixing loop if its damage is high though. High Rider will also attempt to evade the player if they are wasting. Sword of Justice is not as fast as High Rider but can deal a whole lot of damage to the player. It may abandon his path in attempt to waste the player and will also occasionally intercepts the player's turns. It seems to be the most annoying car in this stage, It's hits don't push the player far, but it may cause the player to usually spin out, therefore allowing Sword of Justice to deliver multiple hits on the player as well as allowing other cars to attack. Mighty Eight is the second fastest car in the game and is often seen performing complex and high stunts. It is thus easy for it to get wasted, but Mighty Eight will still finish the race very quickly if it survives. As with the other racing AI, Mighty Eight will attempt to evade the player if they are wasting. Radical One '''is probably the best racer coupled with the best stunt ability and solid endurance. Radical One may take the lead 75% of the time but it will sometimes betray its path to waste the player. If it can't waste the player or they are out of range of Provoking, it will just race the path it was previously in. Note that Radical One appears instead of Mighty Eight when the player is the latter and vise-versa. If the player happens to waste all of the racers, the other two wasters will gang up on the player. If one is at low health, one of them may drive around in circles and draw attention while the other attempts to finish the race. If all the wasters get wasted, the Racers (Mostly Sword of Justice) will draw away attention from High Rider (by now Mighty Eight would've already been wasted) as High Rider would finish the race. If Mighty is still not wasted, the player will have to hunt it down first. If there is only one left they will race. In short: Mighty Eight and High Rider: Racers Sword of Justice and DR Monstaa : Racers AND Wasters MASHEEN and EL KING: Wasters Strategies Radical One is the recommended choice for racing. Using Forward Loops to try and get ahead of cars like Mighty Eight is recommended. However, do not expect to beat the stage in one attempt though, because to win, the player needs to '''memorize the track. '''All the racers know all the shortcuts on the track but one, so follow them to find the correct route for the track. Wasters like M A S H E E N will almost always camp at the same spots all the time, for example, in the first lap it will wait at the 3rd checkpoint. The other problem is DR Monstaa. No matter how far the player is, DR Monstaa always seems to be right behind the player, since it has one of the best Endurance as a car. EL KING is not as big of a problem since it's slower, but has the same strength as DR Monstaa. The secret to beating the track lies in the single shortcut that the AI do not know - and it's a very big shortcut. The final section of the spiral has no checkpoints, allowing the player to bypass it altogether. Try to hit the checkpoint on the penultimate loop at the shallowest angle possible, going straight through it to reach the section of the track, leading back to the starting line. Note that if Mighty Eight survives, it will have a huge chance of winning, as its path is clear and unobstructed. The key to getting Mighty Eight wasted is to swerve in front of Mighty Eight while having one of the Big 3 chasing the player. Try this only when Mighty Eight is in close range. Some Defensive Strategies include: *Snake Dance (Strategy):' Move in a zig zap line to dodge cars like M A S H E E N. *'Ramp Getway: Press space when approaching a ramp and go a small distance. The car chasing the player will fly over head, providing an advantage to escape. High Rider may be an alternative choice, but is easily wasted due to weak endurance. If so, use Radical One . Mighty Eight has poor aerial control compared to Radical One and High Rider. If wasting, the player can use EL KING, as it is fast and strong enough to waste all of the cars. If the player was to use M A S H E E N, then it is recommended to camp at certain areas where the AI usually race. However, providing M A S H E EN to the fix may be difficult. Although by far the slowest, it is the strongest for wasting. When attempting to waste, the AI will evade and swerve away in attempt to avoid the player. Try to target racers who have badly landed (upside down) and waste them while they are still down. This track is actually easier than one might expect to waste on, and with the right strategy is more reliable than racing. Here is a reliable strategy to win as M A S H E E N: # At the start of the race, drive M A S H E E N diagonally across the map and camp Checkpoint 2. Try to damage as many cars as possible as they head through the checkpoint, in particular Mighty Eight. Even if you don't hit anyone you should still be in good shape, this step just makes things a little easier. # Once the cars have passed, drive back over to the repair hoop by Checkpoint 4. Camp here for the rest of the game, attempting to waste cars as they come by for the checkpoint or to repair. Because the AI automatically avoids M A S H E E N, damaged cars will usually veer off course and miss the repair hoop even if you don't manage to hit them. # Surprisingly, the biggest threat to you is not losing the race, but rather getting wasted. You will generally have to repair once to finish the stage without getting wasted, and due to M A S H E E N's abysmal stunt rating, it is surprisingly hard to get off a repair. The key is get full power (not too hard, for instance do a bounce back 180 off the repair hoop ramp) and drive a substantial distance back before beginning your approach towards the repair hoop. Since M A S H E E N's acceleration is so bad, you will need a fair amount of space to get up to speed. Once you go up the ramp, start a backwards loop until you get the repair, then cancel it by holding forwards (or just land badly, it's no big deal). This might take some practice to get right, but you actually have a lot of time! # If any surviving cars are racing uninterrupted and aren't coming in for repairs, just camp at a checkpoint ahead of where they are. Checkpoint 2 (from Step 1) is a good choice as they come around for the second lap. This is usually unnecessary, as they almost always seem to come back to the repair hoop before finishing the race. # A useful tip for implementing this strategy (you should do this on every stage anyway) is to set the arrow to point at cars and press "S" to see a minimap. This shows where every other car is on the track. Video Walk-through '''Winning by Racing: Trivia *This is arguably the hardest stage in Need For Madness 2. *This is the only stage in the whole game where the sky pulses. *No matter what car the player choose, the cars in game will be DR Monstaa, EL KING, Radical One, Mighty Eight, M A S H E E N and High Rider. (Unless complete once, different cars will appear after playing this stage again after completion) *Following from above, occasionally, there will be a Sword of Justice instead of any of the cars listed above.﻿ *The track shape is nearly identical to Centrifugal Rush, Under Water?, because it is basically an inward spiral, and players have to go back to the outside, like the former. *This stage usually requires the most attempts to complete this stage, but after completion and memorizing, this may be very easy to complete once again. *This is probably the only stage where the AI have been heavily modified to increase difficulty of this stage. Category:Tracks